


Road Trip

by TheHeadlessWaltz



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, I'm Bad At Tagging, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-25 20:44:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4975855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHeadlessWaltz/pseuds/TheHeadlessWaltz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set following the events of season 1 episode 21 where Emma leaves town with Henry, except now she might actually get away with it because she tells him that they are simply going on a road trip for a short while. As you can imagine, Regina isn't especially pleased to find that her son has run off with his other mother and this final push is enough to send the already unstable queen over the edge. (Swan Queen)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Road Trip

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first SwanQueen fic, so I'd love feedback! I plan to update soon, so if this idea has you interested, let me now and I'll get the second chapter up all that much faster. Also, I'm stupid and can't figure out how to put things in italics, so words that are all capitalized are supposed to be in italics, sorry.

“What’s going on Emma?” a bleary eyed Henry yawns sleepily, appearing almost comical in a pair of Spider Man pajamas he had long since outgrown, but had somehow managed to convince Regina to allow him to keep.  
Emma risks one last glimpse at the looming mansion on Mifflin Street before putting the Bug in drive and speeding away. She feels a stab of guilt at what she is doing, but quickly pushes the traitorous thoughts away. She is thinking only of Henry, of what is best for him, and right now that means getting him as far away as possible from HER.  
She smiles gently at her son, so small and sweet and innocent and so terribly, blissfully unaware, “We’re going on a vacation. Just the two of us. A road trip. Wouldn’t you like that Henry?”  
She bites her lip, praying that he is not alert enough to catch the lie; after all, it is three in the morning and only minutes before he had been snuggled cozily in his warm bed, dreaming pleasantly of heroes and knights, princes and high-speed horse chases, magic fights and curse-breaking kisses. Her luck holds out, however, because his sleep addled brain can’t seem to fit the puzzle together, “Yeah, Emma. I’d like that.” His head lolls lazily to the side and she thinks he has drifted off to sleep until she hears his quiet voice, inquiring softly, “Where are we going?”  
She sighs, thinking she should have prepared an answer in advance, but she’d panicked and she is terrified and you can’t quite think straight when you are scared shitless, so she just shrugs, “I don’t know yet, kid.”  
Storybrooke is a quaint, little town. They’ve already passed the welcome sign.  
Henry nods his acceptance, “Oh. Sounds nice.” He is silent awhile longer. Then, “I’ve only ever been out of Storybrooke twice – well, now I guess, three times, but this doesn’t count – once being when I was born and twice being when I came to find you. Did you know that?”  
She doesn’t really know what he is getting at, doesn’t know how he wants her to respond, so she apologizes and she doesn’t really know why, except deep down she does know why and she is worried that she is making a huge mistake. Henry just grins stupidly at her, missing her meaning, “Why are you sorry? I like it in Storybrooke. And it will be even better once you break the curse. You know, after our vacation where the heroes get their strength back before we begin the final battle.” Seeming satisfied, he leans back drowsily in his seat, allowing sleep to overtake him.  
Emma frowns out at the dark, empty road before her, stretching infinitely on, speaking softly to herself, “Yeah, kid. Things are gonna get better. I’ll make sure of it.”  
The clock on her dashboard flashes a bright number, 3:28, and it is almost blinding in its stark contrast against the dreary gloom of her surroundings. It hasn’t even been thirty minutes since Henry’s alleged kidnapping, still enough time to rectify this situation and prove she hasn’t gone completely insane.  
But then she remembers the reason for all this and she can’t turn back, she just can’t.  
Not after seeing everything Regina had done, what she is capable of. She is a sociopath and a massive pain in the ass to boot. She is cold and ruthless, taking joy from the misery of a modest school teacher; in fact, she seems rather happy whenever those around her are in pain. And most importantly, she doesn’t love Henry, wanting him around only for her own personal benefit, using him for her sick, twisted mind games. 10 years ago Emma had delivered her son into the waiting arms of this evil woman and now she would set things right by taking Henry from her malevolent influence.  
But, she recalls his words from earlier, and is unsettled by their implications. He likes Storybrooke. He doesn’t want to leave, at least not permanently. For whatever reason, he wants to live in that wretched town and by going through with this idiotic plan, Emma is going explicitly against her son’s wishes.  
At this sudden realization, a memory rises, unbidden, to the forefront of her mind. It is of Regina, glossy strands of raven hair flying about rebelliously in the intense wind, her stylish trench coat hugged tightly to her slight, feminine frame, her infamous politician’s smirk playing about her perfect, full lips. Glee shines in her hard eyes and there are times when Emma thinks she will drown in those dark pools of liquid chocolate, when she lets her defenses down and Emma catches a brief glimpse of the human underneath the mask, but now is no such time. Regina watches, without compassion, without mercy, as Henry’s castle is demolished. The one place he can go that is just his where he can sit in reflection and ponder his many troubles. The one place he is comfortable in his own skin, where he is free. And she is reducing it to rubble. With a smile on her face. Despicable.  
The words are pouring from the sheriff’s mouth, but they do no good as the structure has already toppled, lifeless, to the ground, “Wait! Wait! Stop!”  
And then the mayor turns to her all regal and haughty and self-assured in her $500 pantsuit and black heeled boots, the picture of perfection, and, God, that radiant smile. And she is just such a bitch wearing designer clothes that accentuate her every curve and having applied make up that enhances rather than distorts her natural beauty and just looking so sensual while smiling, smiling, smiling, because she has destroyed Henry’s castle. Because she thinks that she has somehow won some sort of victory, that by hurting her own son she has triumphed over the savor. And the most infuriating thing is that she doesn’t even understand it, doesn’t even comprehend what a loathsome creature she is as she speaks, not showing the least bit of remorse, all the while looking so damn kissable and how dare she!  
In one last ditch effort to make her appreciate the harm she’d done to her own son, Emma spits out, “Congratulations, Madame Mayor. You’ve destroyed the thing he loves.”  
And much to her shock and amazement, the older woman doesn’t even seem rattled. And instead of feeding Emma some shit about safety issues - which Emma would have expected from her -she leans in close, so close that they are breathing each others’ air and Emma can smell the spicy cinnamon, apple scent wafting off of Regina in waves and the aroma is heavenly. Regina lowers her voice to a husky whisper, as if she is sharing sacred knowledge, a secret passed down from generation to generation, “Sometimes parents destroy the things their children love.”  
There is a five or six second speech gap where Emma waits for the mayor to continue with something along the lines of, “but it is always because they are looking out for you because they love you.” When she realizes no further comment is forthcoming, a shiver runs up her spine because Regina had just inadvertently revealed a piece of her childhood – however slight – and it was an intimate portion too.  
Emma doesn’t remember much else about the conversation as she drives onto the interstate, but that one declaration replays eerily over and over again in her head. A wave of pity crashes into her, but she quickly beats it down. She will NOT have sympathy for Regina because Regina is a monster and monsters don’t deserve to be pitied. And besides, no matter how fucked up Regina’s childhood was, it does not justify her actions, does not justify her.  
Emma glances over to where Henry is curled into a ball on the seat, slumbering soundly despite all his inner turmoil. A string of drool balances precariously from his open mouth and Emma thinks it must be the most precious thing she’d ever witnessed. She’d missed so much. But, no more. She has her son and they are going to start a new life together, a better one, a life without Regina Mills.  
But, of course, it can’t just be that simple, because Henry loves Storybrooke and he had a life there, a life he doesn’t even know he is leaving behind for eternity, 10 years with Regina that are impossible to erase. And when he finds out he is never going back, he might be devastated, he might cry, he might scream, but Emma is his mother now and she knows what is best for him.  
And ringing in ears, in a voice not her own, a gravelly voice with a lower timbre, she hears over and over, until it becomes like a chant, music for the road, “Sometimes parents destroy the things their children love.”

**Author's Note:**

> So... Anyone up for chapter 2? Let me know in the comments.


End file.
